I cannot stress how much of a big deal it would be to steal one of these away games in St. Louis for the Sharks. Their road record is 17-17-7. So they've been horrendous on the road, less than .500. So snagging at least one of these road games to begin the series will be a huge boon to them.
I read earlier today that Dan Boyle thinks that the first 10-15 minutes of the game may be the craziest and just after that may be an indicator of how the series will be. I disagree. The Sharks have been terrible in the first couple periods and have been pulling third period heroics to get them where they are.
So expect a crazy 1st period, but really look to see how the Sharks finish. That's always been their undoing, until the past couple weeks where that is where they are playing their best. This is going to be a tough series and the system under Hitchcock is very stingy with opportunities. So the Sharks will need to win the small battles and get some lucky bounces.
I love the playoffs and the Sharks have done fairly well in the past couple seasons by making it to the Western Conference Finals. If they're going to make it that far they need a little bit of luck, but they need to be consistently dominant, not something I've seen. They tend to have certain lines or players play great against certain teams to only disappear against the other opponents. Maybe this year they'll be able to use that underdog label to their advantage and do some more damage than they ever have before.
As always,
Go Sharks!
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